Stag and Doe
by lily's silver doe
Summary: Lily Evans and Severus Snape are friends at their 5th year at Hogwarts, but their friendship is getting weaker everyday. Meanwhile, mysterious events make Lily more interested in knowing what the Marauders are up to every month... [Lily & James story]
1. Prefect

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the characters in this fanfic. The Harry Potter world belongs to J.K. Rowling, and I'm just writing this story for fun.

**Author's Note:** Feedback is greatly appreciated, and constructive criticism welcome :)

**Stag and Doe**

**1**

Prefect

_September 1, 1975_

Lily Evans took a deep breath and closed her eyes. It always brought a chill down her spine when she crossed the barrier between platforms 9 and 10, even though it was already her fifth time doing so. Gathering strength, she advanced without hesitating, leaving the ordinary train station behind her.

She opened her eyes to find the sight she had come to love and that marked the beginning of yet another school year. Platform 9 and ¾: The Hogwarts Express. She took a deep breath once again, but this time it was not out of anxiety, but to savour the fresh air that every year reminded her of the very first time she had embarked on this journey. But things were not as same as in her first year: every year a shadow seemed to grow larger in the wizarding world. Rumours spread and intensified of a threat of dark magic. But still Lily always faced the beginning of another year with anticipation and joy, because she found Hogwarts her home, too, now that she had spent four years of her life in there.

Moreover, things at Lily's home were growing gloomier everyday. Her parents loved her very much and were proud of her witchcraft achievements, but her sister, Petunia, envied her abilities and held a grudge against her that only grew bigger with time. To make things worse, this summer her father had gotten ill, and her sister blamed her for not doing anything for him. "It's not upon magic to fight diseases," Lily had told her, but ever since then Petunia barely talked to her, and didn't even bother to call her a 'freak' as she used to. The on-going tension between her daughters wasn't helping in her father's recovery and so Lily had decided to go to Hogwarts in spite of her father's condition. Her mother had encouraged her, because there was no other way that she could go on with her wizarding studies without leaving her family behind for another year.

She clutched in her hand one of the reasons that gave her encouragement to face yet another year at Hogwarts: her prefect badge. She had been chosen as the new Gryffindor prefect, which she liked to think of as recognition for her efforts during the past four years. Ever since a small child, magic came out of her in a natural, gracious way; but at Hogwarts she had learnt to give it more power and strength. If she succeeded well in her OWL's this year, she could pursue a career in the Ministry, according to Professor McGonagall, her Head of House.

She pinned the badge to her blouse – though she wasn't yet in her Hogwarts robes - and moved forward, getting closer to the train and the people surrounding it: parents and children hugging and waving goodbye, leaving last-time recommendations about school, enjoying the last moments together before Christmas break. She stopped near the first carriage: this time she would not sit around with the other Gryffindors, or even near her friend Severus – she had prefect duties to attend.

She was just trying to pull her heavy trunk up the carriage's stairs along with her little owl's cage, when a familiar voice came from behind.

"Care for any help, Evans?" It was James Potter's voice, and he spoke in that tone that she could never guess whether he was really offering some help or just laughing at her apparent lack of strength. When she turned to face him, she noticed that for once he was alone, and his friends weren't following behind.

"I'm sure I can do just fine on my own," she said, trying not to sound weak with the strain. She climbed to the inside of the carriage and started to drag the trunk up the stairs. James held the trunk on the side that Lily was not pushing and helped her put it near the door to the compartment of the prefect girls, smiling at her.

"Much better now, don't you think?" Her face was a little red with the effort, and he probably mistook it for a blush. Her smile was not very wide: she recognized his help had been useful, but didn't really want to admit it in his face.

"Thanks, Potter," she said, "However I still think it wasn't necessary -"

The sound of a door opening just beside them interrupted Lily's sentence. Out of the prefect boys compartment came a boy with straight black hair by his shoulders and a long nose – Severus Snape. Lily hadn't known her friend had been selected as a prefect, but when she realized it, she smiled at him. He was already in his Hogwarts robes, and his prefect badge already shone in his chest, but instead of having a reddish glow to it, like Lily's badge, it sparkled green and silver. He smiled back at Lily when he saw her, however, when he turned to James, he seemed quite displeased. But before he could say anything, James laughed right in his face.

"Oh, look who he is! Happy with your new prefect badge, Snivellus?" And as he finished talking, he couldn't help but laugh once more.

Severus made an effort to ignore him and remain calm, but his eyes betrayed the anger and despising he felt for James. "What are you doing here, Potter? I assume Professor Dumbledore didn't make the mistake of naming _you_ as a prefect?"

"Actually, no," James retorted, "but I guess it's because I already have my share of work as Quidditch captain, isn't it?" He passed his hand on his hair and looked at Lily. "Well, while _not_ being a prefect, that doesn't stop me from helping the damsel in distress."

"Potter, I'm not a damsel in distress!" Lily protested. The train's whistle was heard for the first time, announcing the departure of the train in five minutes. "And you'd better go now, or you'll eventually lose the train," she added. Severus seemed to mutter something about how Hogwarts would be better without James Potter, but he seemed not to hear, or at least pretend he didn't.

"Of course, Miss Prefect," James winked jokingly at Lily. "And you wouldn't want to lose the chance of sharing another school year with my company around, would you?" He grinned broadly, which made her start to feel irritated.

"In fact, Potter," she said affirmatively, "I think that as a prefect, I should guarantee that the best interests of my House are favoured. And I think we have a better chance of winning the Quidditch cup with a fairly reasonable seeker around."

James snorted. "Fairly reasonable?" But before he could say anything else, the whistle of the train was heard again, signalling the last two minutes before departure.

"Go, Potter," Lily ordered.

He shrugged his shoulders. "We'll talk later, Evans," he said, and then added, looking to Severus too, "Watch out for Snivellus, he may jinx you one of these days." And with that last sentence he hurried off the stairs, nearly bumping into Remus Lupin, his great friend and the new Gryffindor prefect, who was now walking into the prefect carriage.

James beamed at him. "Hey, Remus! Forgot you'd been named prefect too… Too bad we're not travelling together this year!"

"Oh, I'm sure prefect duties won't last long, then I'll join you three in your compartment," Remus said, and he seemed torn between pride of being a prefect and pity of not sharing yet another journey to Hogwarts with his friends.

"See you then. I've got to get going." James patted Remus on the back, and then hurried of the train to enter other carriage in the back of the train.

As James was gone, Remus seemed to finally notice Lily and Severus.

"Hey, you've been chosen, too! Congrats, Lily," He beamed at her when he saw her badge on her blouse, but meanwhile threw a furtive look of disapproval at Severus, who had a very bad popularity among the Gryffindors, except maybe for Lily herself.

"Thanks, Remus, congrats to you too," she replied, and smiled sweetly. Remus was a kind boy, though his skin was pale, and sometimes one could notice the rings under his eyes getting darker, which made him look weak and tired – today, though, he looked happier than ever. He was a bright student, though not as bright as James Potter and Sirius Black, but Lily reckoned he had been chosen as prefect over them due to their complete lack of respect against Hogwarts' rules.

"By the way, I saw Mary outside. Could she be looking for you? I told her to get inside the train, that she'd find you somewhere…"

"Oh, Mary! I didn't see her, but we did our shopping this year together, and I told her I'd be a prefect, I guess she just forgot…" Lily shrugged her shoulders. However, as the train made its final whistle – unmistakably louder than the others – that announced its departure, she seemed to remember her trunk was still at the door of the girls' compartment, and that she wasn't yet in her Hogwarts robes.

"I have to change," she said to both boys, and then as she opened the door of the girls' compartment, Severus told her, "The reunion with the Head Boy and the Head Girl is down there." He gestured to a compartment down the corridor on the right and smiled. "See you there."

Before Lily entered, two girls walked out of the door in their Hogwarts robes, following Severus down the corridor. She recognized them as being the new Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw prefects, and greeted them with a smile and a shy "Hello" that was returned by both of them. When she finally entered the compartment, dragging her trunk behind her, another girl was just finishing getting changed, and pinned to her robes shone brightly in silver and green a badge equal to Severus'. Lily recognized her immediately as she turned around to face her: she was Sirius Black's cousin, Narcissa Black.

"Merlin's beard," she gasped, looking at Lily's badge in a mocking way, "don't tell me there were no pure-bloods left in Gryffindor to take the prefect badge anymore…"

She snorted and Lily shrugged her shoulders. She was getting more and more used to this type of comments from the Slytherin crowd, and there was no use in trying to reply back, because they just wouldn't budge from their fanatic ways and their dark experiments with magic. As long as the insults remained verbal, she couldn't care less – answering was just giving them reasons for throwing curses at them, or fighting, and the only ones who bothered to do the latter against the Slytherins those days were James Potter and his friends.

"Oh, you remain quiet now? Finally caring to admit that you really shouldn't be here in this school?"

Lily closed her fists, trying to control the anger that was boiling inside her. But her face didn't betray her, as she remained calm and simply kept looking at Narcissa in the eye, with determination and strength. Her glare and her silence must have disturbed Narcissa more than anything Lily could've said, so in turn she just shrugged her shoulders. "I don't really know why I'm bothering to talk to you anyway, waste of time." She walked out the door leaving Lily alone in the compartment, and nearly bumping into Severus as she closed the door behind her.

"Watch where you're walking, Snape!" she muttered under her breath. "What are you doing here anyway?" She looked down to his badge, twin of hers, pinned on his chest. "Oh, I see. Your lineage isn't an inconvenience for your success in Hogwarts, is it?"

Severus scowled, clearly disapproving this reference to his half-blood status. "And why are you despising people around like that? Don't think being a prefect is enough, Cissa?"

Narcissa snorted. "Prefect?" She seemed to think for a moment. "Well, it's good in the way you get a little more power inside of Hogwarts… But what does it matter anyway? It's the blood that counts, the ability to do things beyond what they could ever teach us here." She seemed amazed and terrified at the same time when she said this, fascinated with the thought of power ahead of what she could even imagine.

Severus didn't even blink. He didn't seem impressed at first, but his eyes grew larger as realization hit him. "You want to join the Dark Lord," he said in a whisper, almost even afraid of verbalizing his thoughts. "Like Bella…"

Narcissa nodded. "And you," she said more aggressively, but still in the low tone that nobody could hear but the both of them, "if you don't want to end up like other _half-bloods _and _blood traitors_ around," Severus noticed the disdain on her voice as she said these words, "you should stop protecting Mudbloods, they're filth in the Dark Lord's eyes." She gestured with her hand to the compartment behind her, where Lily was.

Severus shuddered, thinking of what could happen to Lily if the Dark Lord should gain dominion over the wizarding world. But then, if he would be on his side, he would have the power to protect her, he would, he thought to himself. But before he could reply to Narcissa, Lily startled the both of them by walking out of the compartment fully dressed in her Hogwarts robes, the Gryffindor prefect badge shining with a golden glow on her chest.

She seemed surprised to see both of them talking so close to each other in whispers, but she didn't bother to comment. She glared at Severus and then turned her back on both of them, heading for the compartment where the reunion was going to take place.


	2. A Mysterious Piece of Parchment

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the characters in this fanfic. The Harry Potter world belongs to J.K. Rowling, and I'm just writing this story for fun.

**Author's Note:** Thanks all for the reviews! I edited Chapter 1 because of the mistake I made (you might want to check it out again), thanks for pointing it out. So here is chapter 2, and Remus Lupin is now the Gryffindor prefect. Again, feedback is greatly appreciated, and don't hesitate to point out canon mistakes again if they arise :)

**2**

A Mysterious Piece of Parchment

The compartment of the Head Boy and Head Girl was wider than any of the others Lily had ever seen in the Hogwarts Express, not even the prefects'. Its shape was also different than the others: the seats were arranged in a semi-circular way and in the middle were two chairs where two seventh years with a responsible look to them sat.

The train was now travelling in full speed, and Lily took a seat next to Remus, just in time to see Narcissa and Severus enter the room and take the last two free seats in the opposite direction. She noticed that Severus was looking somewhat nervous and wondered what he was up to this time with the Slytherins, especially Narcissa Black, who had such a dark reputation due to her famous sister Bellatrix – rumours spread that she and her husband had joined the Dark Lord last year.

But before she could go any further in her speculations, the Head Boy, Frank Longbottom, started to speak. He was a Gryffindor just like Lily, and he was tall, black-haired and thin. He wasn't very attractive, but was an outstanding student, and always caring to help the younger ones.

"Hi all, and congratulations to the new prefects," he greeted all of them, though there was something cold about the way the Slytherins were receiving this warm welcome. By the corner of her eye, Lily saw Lucius Malfoy, seventh year Slytherin prefect, sitting next to Narcissa Black, staring at Longbottom with piercing eyes – and she understood. He envied Longbottom's place, and couldn't deal with the fact that there was a Gryffindor more powerful than himself.

The Head Girl was a black-haired girl with shrewd bright blue eyes, that Lily recognized as having been a previous Ravenclaw prefect – Louise Saunders. She smiled and nodded, and then added, "There are some recommendations we would like to give you, especially for those who are starting on this new task at Hogwarts." She gave a comforting smile around the room and in the direction of Remus and Lily.

"There are five rules that the prefects must obey. _First_, protect the interests of your own House, and always follow the instructions of the Head Girl, Head Boy, Head of House and Headmaster. _Second_, abide to Hogwarts' rules and make sure they are being respected in every place inside the school. _Third_, guide the new members of your House, or of other Houses whenever necessary, inside of Hogwarts. _Fourth_, ensure the members of your House respect the members of the other Houses." She threw a menacing look at the Slytherin prefects, and one could see in her glance that she didn't like Lucius Malfoy not even a little bit. "_Fifth_, never abuse of power and never question the teachers' authority. Are there any questions regarding those rules?"

Most of them remained silent, and some shook their heads. These were just common sense rules that most of them would have respected even without knowing - except maybe for the Slytherins.

Frank continued. "There are some remarks we'd like to make about the rules. To start with, prefects should give a good example to other students. Therefore," and he turned to the Slytherins again, "don't make me warn you. I wouldn't like to have to report to the teachers that the prefects have infringed the rules themselves."

Lucius' piercing stare turned again to Frank. Lily could sense his thoughts running rapidly through his head. 'Who does he think he is? Trying some sort of insinuations against my house and myself?' He opened his mouth as if to say something, and most eyes in the compartment were directed at him, tension growing with the silence in anticipation of what was coming. But Narcissa, sitting right next to him, could also see trouble coming out of what Lucius meant to say and squeezed his hand. He remained quiet.

Frank broke the hard silence and tried to keep a pleasant voice, pretending that nothing had happened. "Moreover, as stated in the fifth rule, prefects should not abuse their power, and so they are only allowed to take points from the Houses in the following situations: finding a student out of the Common Rooms after nine in the evening, and before seven in the morning, which should lead to a penalty of ten points from his House; seeing students perform magic in the corridors, five points should be taken from their House and the event should be reported to the teachers, who decide further punishment. If you should take points from the Houses in any other occasion, you will be punished yourselves for not abiding to the prefects' rules."

Most people nodded in agreement, and Louise continued, "Today your tasks are patrolling the corridors in the Hogwarts Express, and guiding the members of your House to the Common Rooms after the opening dinner in the Great Hall… By the way, here are your Common Room passwords." She picked three envelopes that were lying in her lap and handed them over to three prefects, one of Gryffindor, one of Hufflepuff and one of Slytherin. Lily wondered why Ravenclaw prefects didn't need the password, but reckoned that Louise, as a member of their own House, must've told them before.

After being told that the new password for the Gryffindor Common Room was '_hippogriff_', Lily walked out of the Head Boy and Head Girl compartment along with the other prefects. On the end of the corridor there was a door that led to the other carriages. Before they proceeded, they divided in pairs, so that each pair would supervise a carriage; the pairs were instantly formed with the members of the same house and year, because they naturally knew each other better. However, Narcissa and Severus didn't seem too pleased to be working with each other: Narcissa kept throwing furtive glances at Lucius Malfoy, while Severus looked at Lily and his eyes seemed to ask for forgiveness when they met hers. Under the vigilant eye of the other Slytherins, though, he didn't dare say a word.

Lily and Remus advanced through the door, behind the fifth year Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw prefects, but before they could go much further, a crowd of first years seemed to appear out of nowhere. They were holding magical trumpets that played the Hogwarts' anthem's melody, no matter what the player was actually playing, or even if the trumpet was actually being played correctly – which, as Lily observed, was the case with most of the kids. Leading them was a little young boy, newcomer at Hogwarts as well, with golden locks all over his head and dressed in flashy turquoise robes. When the music started to play, he spoke in a higher tone, above all the trumpets, looking very proud of himself.

"Welcome, welcome, prefects, to the Hogwarts Express!" he greeted them grinning broadly, and brandishing his wand as though he was the leader of the band – but Lily feared he would take somebody's eye out in the process with so much enthusiasm. "I'm Gilderoy Lockhart," he said, bowing, "and we are the first years' Hogwarts band!" The Hogwarts' anthem kept playing in the trumpets until it finally came to an end. By this time, most people in the carriage had gotten out of their compartments to see what was going on.

Lily was astonished. She never expected a welcome like that, and she felt completely at a loss of what to do. She looked at the other prefects, but they seemed just as bewildered or even more, if that was possible – even Narcissa, whose face of surprise had an unpleasant look to it nonetheless. The first years, with the now silent trumpets in their hands, mirrored their own confusion and looked almost scared at the apparent lack of reaction from the older students. Only Gilderoy kept bowing around to everyone, his face in the same broad grin, not caring about what they were thinking but only about the fact that all eyes were now focused on him.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, the Head Girl saved them all by walking to the front of the prefects and speaking to the first years. "Thanks for the welcome, Gilderoy, and all," she said sweetly. "Now you can return to your compartments." She clapped her hands. "C'mon now, quickly."

There was a bustle as the younger kids rushed into their compartments, now under the curious eye of the older ones, who had 'woken up' of their awe and were commenting with each other, under muffled laughs, the funny event. However, before they continued with their task and everything returned to normal, Gilderoy's voice was yet heard, complaining to the Head Girl in the front of the corridor.

"How come I don't get points for my House for this? That's very unfair, my father always told me -"

Louise didn't even let him finish. "And I suppose you already know in which House you will be in, little boy, considering you weren't sorted yet?"

Gilderoy held his wand in front of him as though it was some invisible sword. "Of course I'll be in Gryffindor, me, Gilderoy, The Brave!" His was now an ear-to-ear smile, and Louise didn't have the time to reply as he put his hand to his hair and kept on. "My father always told me we got our looks from Gryffindor himself… He had the golden hair, you know."

The crowd of prefects burst into laughter, but the young boy didn't seem to feel any uncomfortable. Louise said simply, "Right, but look, I can't give you any points until the Sorting Hat has put you in Gryffindor for real, okay?"

He didn't seem to like the response very much, as his face turned to something between a frown and a pout. But he accepted it, and returned to his compartment without a word.

While they advanced to the next carriage, Lily heard Severus whisper to Narcissa behind her, "It seems Gryffindor will get themselves someone who's more full of himself than Potter." Lily noticed Remus should've heard this, too, because he suddenly straightened his back and his jaw was closed rigidly.

Narcissa snorted. She didn't even care to lower her voice much when she answered back. "Oh, but I bet this kid's harmless. Gilderoy Goldilocks, the golden hair of Gryffindor!" She laughed again and Severus and other people around her snickered. She raised her voice. "Unlike Potter and his friends, who like to play with danger… one day, they will regret that."

Lily gasped. This time, Narcissa was going a bit too far. Lily wondered what she had been up to these summer holidays, that had made her return even meaner than she was in the previous years. Remus was now pale, and his whole body was rigid with the anger he was trying to repress. However, she had provoked him way too much for him to remain still. He turned around to face her.

"What do you mean, Narcissa? Repeat that in my face, if you have the guts to." He looked her in the eye, but her piercing stare didn't stray.

She smiled and seemed bemused with the situation. "Oh, Remus, you know exactly what I'm talking about." Her face suddenly turned to a serious expression and she whispered in a voice that only Remus could hear. "You fear it, you know." She gestured to her pocket in a way that Remus' instinctive response was to grab the wand inside his pocket as well.

"Remus, it isn't worth it…" Lily pleaded weakly, sensing the tension growing in front of her eyes. It had barely passed half an hour since the Hogwarts Express had departed from Platform 9 and ¾, and yet the Slytherins were ready to ignite the spark of the fire between them and the other Houses.

But as Remus drew his wand from his pocket, something else fell from his robes and landed on the floor – a blank piece of parchment. There was nothing special to it at first sight, but Lily meant to pick it from the floor – only Severus was faster. Remus immediately turned his attention to him instead of Narcissa, and if he could've become paler, he would. Lily sensed a glimpse of fear in his eyes and didn't understand: apparently, there was nothing special to that piece of parchment; only Remus' behaviour was a hint that something was there hidden.

"Give that back to me," he told Severus, his free hand opened forwards, ready to receive his own possession. But the Slytherin prefect seemed to catch the same hint as Lily and had other intentions.

"It's just a blank piece of parchment… tell me, why do you want it so badly? It – it makes me think you are hiding something here -"

"_Give that back to me!_" Remus' voice was now louder and angrier, and he pointed his wand at Severus. The corner of Severus' lip twitched with nervousness and excitement at the thought of finding something hidden. There was a tense silence.

"Sev, give it back to Remus if you don't mind," Lily said, trying to play the pacifying role. "Let's cool down, people, we're prefects now."

"So what?" Narcissa asked defiantly.

"If the- there's something hidden in- in here, Lily," Severus' voice trembled with anxiety, "we have to find out what- what it is!"

"_It's mine so will you please give it back!_" Remus was running out of patience. He seemed ready to jump into a non-magical fight with Severus to grab the parchment out of his hand. But Severus was already drawing out his wand, ready to conjure a revealing spell, but just before he could do it, a voice came that startled all of them from the quarrel.

"What's going on in here?"

Louise Saunders walked over to the four of them, her beautiful face frowned with disapproval. From the opposite side came Frank Longbottom, looking very displeasead and angry, too. Severus quickly hid the parchment in his own pocket and lowered his wand, but it was too late.

"Fifteen minutes ago, I said _don't make me warn you_!" Frank said in a muffled yell, trying not to draw more attention than necessary. "What are you hiding there, Snape?"

"N-nothing, it's just a piece of parchment that fell off my pocket -"

"It's _my_ piece of parchment and it fell of _my_ pocket!" Remus protested, and he seemed willing to say a few more insults, but decided it was safer to keep quiet.

Louise sighed. "Hand it over to me, please," she gestured to Severus. He hesitated, but in the end had no option but to obey. The Head Girl examined the blank parchment with surprise, finding it difficult to believe that they were arguing over such simple a thing.

"There's something hidden in there," Narcissa said bluntly. Remus stirred nervously on his feet. Louise had now handed the parchment to Frank, who was playing with it in his hands, as if looking for a trace of ink, or magic. He drew out his wand, but before he could conjure any spell, Remus spoke again.

"Wait!"

Frank looked at him, surprised and intrigued. Narcissa lifted her eyebrows and looked amused.

"I don't want you to view.. I mean, I- I-" Remus seemed hesitant. "I don't want you to view what's inside, it's a private letter from my mother, okay?"

"Oh." Frank sighed with relief, though Narcissa and Severus didn't seem too convinced. He handed over the parchment to Remus and he picked it abruptly and put it back in his pocket.

"Thank you."

Narcissa opened her mouth to complain, but Frank didn't want to waste much more time with this matter.

"Well… anyway, if I catch any of you involved in fights again, be sure that I'll report it to the teachers and you'll say goodbye to your prefect badges or even to Hogwarts itself." He gestured to Louise and they both returned to their places as they were guiding the prefects along the carriages of the Hogwarts Express.

None of the four of them even dared to say a word after that. Lily and Remus turned their back on the Slytherin prefects and continued their way in silence behind the other fifth year prefects as they were guided by the Head Girl through the train.


	3. Visions

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the characters in this fanfic. The Harry Potter world belongs to J.K. Rowling, and I'm just writing this story for fun.

**Author's Note:** Thanks all for the reviews. Here goes chapter 3, hope you enjoy :)

**3**

Visions

"_Lily_! Are you there?"

Lily was startled from her thoughts, nearly jumping on her seat.

"Sorry – Sorry, Mary… I was just thinking…"

She turned her attention again to the green fields outside, drifting from sight at considerable speed, the sun close to disappearing beyond the horizon and the warm sunset tones of September coloring the view with a reddish shade of orange. It was a beautiful landscape.

"Whoa, Lily, I must've been talking to myself for the last five minutes! Have you heard anything of what I told you about my cousin?"

Lily's gaze turned again from the window to the girl in front of her. Mary Mcdonald was one of her best friends in Gryffindor, one of the first people she had met after being separated from her friend Severus during the sorting ceremony on her first day at Hogwarts. Her hair was red, but curly and in a lighter tone than Lily's, and her eyes were hazel brown, framed with freckles that were spread all over her face. She was a very cheerful young woman, always ready for a laugh or willing to talk for hours on end – and she had found in Lily her best listener.

"Uhm… actually… no…" Lily smiled weakly, but Mary was laughing – after knowing her friend for nearly four years, she was already used to those occasions on which she simply drifted into her own world.

"Still thinking about Remus' parchment, are you?" Lily shrugged her shoulders. "I should've guessed. Leave it, Lily, the only bad thing was leaving the Slytherins suspicious, but what else? You don't think he'd walk around with dark magic on his pocket… do you?"

Lily hesitated. "Well, the Slytherins do it and they don't get caught… Why would he carry around a letter from his mother on his pocket anyway? And if it really is a letter from his mum, why would she write in invisible ink?" She frowned. "It's really strange, Mary, you have to admit."

Mary swallowed the last piece of the chocolate frog she was eating and picked her bottle of pumpkin juice. "Well, it's a little mysterious, yes," she recognized, "But okay, let's say it wasn't a letter from his mum. It still can be hundreds of things that are _not_ dark objects. Like… a letter from Potter, or Black. Talking about the _mischief_ they were up to in the holidays…"

Both girls laughed, and Lily felt her spirits lighten a bit. After all, there wasn't too much to worry about: if they were Gryffindors they wouldn't give in to the dark side so easily. There was more to worry about the fact that Severus was sharing secrets with Narcissa Black behind her back. She wondered when she would have the time to talk privately with him to clear up matters, since he was getting everyday more and more surrounded by other Slytherins all the time. Meanwhile, she couldn't talk about these worries to Mary – they were so tired of arguing about the fact that Lily kept her friendship with Severus that Lily avoided as much as she could to refer to him during any conversation with her friend.

The train was now slowing down, nearing the place of arrival. Mary had to change to Hogwarts robes, and Lily left her to return to the prefects' carriage and supervise as the students left the train, to guarantee that everyone would arrive at Hogwarts safely.

They met again in the invisibly-driven carriages (or so they thought) that led them to the castle, and some fifteen minutes later they were taking their seats at the Gryffindor table, getting ready for the sorting ceremony.

Lily watched as the small kids, one by one, took the seat in front of the crowd and awaited, apprehensively, the Sorting Hat's judgement. It was still fresh in her memory the first time she had set foot on the Great Hall herself - she remembered the anxiety she had felt, facing the crowd of curious and expectant older students. 'You'd better be in Slytherin,' Severus had told her. And when it was her turn and the Hat slid on her head until it covered her eyes, she tried to hang on to the very little she knew.

'_Mmm… redhead young girl… the color of your hair says it all, doesn't it?' whispered the Sorting Hat near her ear, and at first she was surprised to hear its voice, but then understood how he did the sorting; he was reading her mind, reading her personality._

'_Slytherin…Slytherin…Slytherin…' she thought to herself, trying to ignore the Hat's remark on her hair colour that linked her to Gryffindor._

'_Slytherin? Are you sure?' the voice came again in response to her thoughts. 'Now why would such a kind girl want to be in that house, I wonder?'_

_Lily risked a furtive glance to Severus from underneath the Sorting Hat's brim, and saw him clutching nervously his hands into one another. That didn't go unnoticed to the Hat that followed her every thought._

'_Oh, I see. You can be a great witch, you know, but not in the Slytherin way.' Lily wondered what the Hat meant by saying that. He was quick to answer, though she didn't understand it completely. 'You will be able to do great magic, yes… but you have an even greater power… the greatest of powers - the power to love wholeheartedly, and with such bravery… And that leaves me no doubt where to put you…'_

_And before Lily could ask the Sorting Hat any other question, or try to convince him again to place her in Slytherin, he shouted to the crowd: 'GRYFFINDOR!' and everything was very quick to happen: Professor McGonagall took the Sorting Hat off her head, and the Gryffindor table burst in applause; she saw Severus' face of disappointment, still waiting to be sorted himself; and she felt sad and yet glad at the same time, seeing the eyes of the kind Gryffindors all focused on herself, shining with glee and pride for their House and the new student they were about to receive…_

"_Lily_!" Mary's voice, whispering near her, startled her from her memories and she was again Lily Evans, not eleven but fifteen, prefect of Hogwarts and one of the older students herself. "What are you staring at? At least try to pretend you're paying attention and join the applause…"

Lily immediately understood that the eleven-year-old blonde girl that was now rushing to join the Gryffindor table had been sorted into her House, and started to clap her hands, doing the best she could to pretend she had been observant the whole time.

After the girl took her seat near the other students and the applause faded, Professor McGonagall called yet another eleven-year-old to put the Sorting Hat on.

"Lockhart, Gilderoy!"

The Slytherin table suddenly started to sing, between veiled laughs and under the command of Narcissa Black: _Gilderoy Goldilocks, the golden hair of Gryffindor! Gilderoy Goldilocks, the golden hair of Gryffindor!_ The members of the other Houses exchanged confused looks between the Slytherin table and the proud young boy that now walked his way to the seat where he would be sorted, apparently oblivious to the teasing song that was directed to him.

But the musical moment didn't last long as a stern glare from Professor McGonagall in the direction of the Slytherins hushed their singing voices. Gilderoy took the seat in front of the crowd and the Sorting Hat slid on his head, covering his golden locks.

"What was that all about?" Mary whispered in Lily's ear, during the expectant silence that followed.

"Well, we met this kid during our duties, when we were starting to patrol the corridors… He had convinced the first years to give us a _welcome_," Lily whispered back, and had to make an effort not to laugh. "And then he said something about wanting points for his House, and that he'd be sorted into Gryffindor because he had the golden hair coming from Gryffindor himself…"

Mary snickered and looked back at the young boy sitting in front of the four tables. Unlike many of the other first years, of this year and others in the past, he didn't look anxious, but kept always that pose of pride – even now that the Sorting Hat covered more than half his face and he could barely see the rest of the students in front of him.

"RAVENCLAW!" the Sorting Hat yelled, and all the students exchanged confused looks between them, and as Professor McGonagall took the Hat off Gilderoy's head, he looked annoyed and reluctant to get up from the seat to join his fellow Ravenclaws on the dinner table. Finally he slowly proceeded to join the other few first years already seated by the blue-and-bronze House table, under the uneasy eye of the supervising teacher, and muffled laughs all across the Hall.

The sorting continued for about another fifteen minutes, until at last all the first years had taken their places on the corresponding House tables. Then the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, made his usual welcoming speech – that was usually random and made people think he was somewhat crazy. However, this year, he had a special warning to make.

"I'm afraid that due to the dangerous incident that occurred last year with our dear Gryffindor Davey Gudgeon, this year it's strictly forbidden to be as close as 50 feet or less of the Whomping Willow," he said, referring to the episode that had happened on the end of the school year: Davey Gudgeon had got a few scratches and had nearly lost an eye when the third years had decided to play outside under the warm sun of June, the foolish game of trying to get as closer as they could to the Whomping Willow - that huge, dangerous tree that had been planted in the Hogwarts fields four years before.

"Failure to comply with these rules will be of your own responsibility and may lead to detention if spotted by the teachers or the caretaker, Argus Filch," Dumbledore added.

There were whispers across the Great Hall and Lily spotted two seats beside her James Potter and Sirius Black exchanging at the same time amused and worried looks. They were widely known for getting themselves into trouble more times than it was healthy, and she wondered what they were up to this time about the Whomping Willow.

"Good luck for the school year, students of Hogwarts!" The Headmaster clapped his hands and suddenly their glasses, plates and dishes were all filled with the delicious food and drinks they were hungrily awaiting. The Great Hall was filled with echoing joyful voices and laughter as finally everybody started to devour their meals and talk to their fellow House members about the time they had spent apart during the summer.

"So, what was it that you were trying to tell me about your cousin in the train?" Lily suddenly remembered, turning to Mary on her side. Lily knew that, even though Mary had several cousins, the one she referred to as simply 'my cousin' was always Molly, ten years their senior, who had always been to Mary – an only child -, as an older sister.

"Mmm," Mary nodded, her mouth full of roast beef. After she had swallowed it with a satisfied grin she revealed the good news. "Molly's husband, Arthur, got himself a job in the Ministry! Isn't it wonderful?"

"Nice!" Lily approved. "Send them my congratulations." Lily had never actually met Molly and Arthur Weasley in person, but had heard of them so many times that it was as though they were old friends of hers as well. And through Mary's talkative ramblings she had long understood she spoke to the Weasleys about her and their adventures at Hogwarts just as much. "By the way, what position is he taking?" she asked.

Mary ate yet another piece of roast beef and some fries before answering. "He's being an assistant at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement… actually on the Improper Use of Magic Office, I think. It isn't much of a good position inside the Ministry, you know, but it's a job, and it's at the Ministry, so he's got way more Galleons every month…" She sighed. "They weren't very well off on money, you know. Now with Arthur's job, they're planning to have another baby soon. I think Molly wants a girl…"

"And who wouldn't, she's got two boys already!" Lily exclaimed, remembering the photos of little Bill and Charlie that Mary had brought last year after she had spent the Christmas season with her family and had met the Weasleys in the meantime. They were all red-headed like mother and father – and like their endearing cousin too.

Mary laughed. "Yeah. But it's not only that. Molly's told me that a girl hasn't been born in Arthur's family in like three generations or something, and they'd be really proud to have the first Weasley girl in a century…"

Sirius Black, who was seating next to Mary on the opposite side of Lily, suddenly stopped eating and held his fork halfway upon the air in a most funny manner as he turned to the girls, interrupting their conversation. "Oho… could I possibly have heard 'Weasley'?"

Mary turned to him with a puzzled look in her face. "Well… yes -"

Before she could say any other word, Lily affirmed quietly, "You could have heard a '_whizz_' near your ears, Black, but because of trying to overhear too much of other people's conversations…"

Sirius didn't seem very disturbed by Lily's sarcastic remark. "Okay, Evans, I admit," he held his hands up in the air in his usual joking gestures. "But this time, I _swear_ it wasn't on purpose… I just heard a familiar name, that's all." James Potter, who was sitting in front of him, snickered.

Before Lily could reply back, Mary widened her eyes with curiosity. "So you know the Weasleys?" she asked Sirius.

Sirius thought for a moment. "Actually, no," he answered. "But they're my cousins in second or third degree or something."

"Blimey, Sirius," James gasped, "You have _blood traitors_ in your family?" He openly laughed and Sirius couldn't help but chuckle. Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, who were sitting near the boys, seemed to catch up with the conversation and laughed as well. The two girls looked somewhat confused, as they didn't understand the joke.

Sirius understood the perplexed look on the girls' faces and promptly started to explain. "My family is mostly pure-blood. They have a thing for keeping the bonds between our family and other families strictly within the pure-blood ones… You know, others that also care about the blood status." Now Lily and Mary's expression must have been a mix of fear and confusion, because he was ready to excuse himself. "Not that I give a damn about that! Well, you can easily see I'm not really like the rest of my family, as I was sorted into Gryffindor." He chuckled again. "The rest of them have been in Slytherin."

"Including your little brother Regulus," James added with displeasure.

"Including my little brother Regulus," Sirius repeated, and the girls saw him glance over to a couple of third years sitting on the Slytherin table, one of them with a few physical resemblances with Sirius himself. "So, probably the part of my family that is related to the Weasleys is my favourite one – even though they don't consider them as part of my family anymore." He shrugged his shoulders. "That's why I was kind of startled by you mentioning them…"

"Don't forget Andromeda though," James reminded again.

"Yeah. Andromeda is my favourite cousin… She was a Slytherin, too, but not of the dark type. She married a son of Muggles, and now she isn't part of the family anymore either…"

"Especially since she's had a kid." James had this particular habit of finishing Sirius's sentences or reminding him about forgotten facts. It felt a bit irritating at times, Lily thought, because it seemed like he was bragging about his knowledge.

There was a tense silence afterwards. Mary opened her mouth several times before she could make a sound, unsure of what to say. Lily also seemed speechless. They hadn't known about Sirius' family, except that the mischievous and proud Narcissa Black was his cousin. And even though they had already spent four years as fellow classmates, they had hardly ever talked about those issues.

Finally Mary could speak, breaking the impending awkwardness. "Well, er – the Weasleys are my cousins too. Molly Prewett is my cousin… she married Arthur Weasley on the year before we came to Hogwarts." She paused. "They have two kids now, too," she added, smiling sweetly.

"Nice," Sirius said. "I would've liked to know them, actually." Then, as if trying to change the subject to something more interesting and less saddening to him, he added, "Andromeda's girl is a Metamorphmagus. Her hair went through all kinds of colours just on her first day of life, can you believe it?"

James nodded. "You showed us pictures, mate," he said, speaking for himself, Remus and Peter.

"Oooh, a Metamorphmagus." Mary seemed fascinated. "I'd love to see those pictures of your little cousin, too!" The conversation drifted once again to lighter, cheerful themes about babies and rare phenomena in the magical world.

But still Lily kept silent. The strangest feeling got hold of her - she felt dizzy, and her vision went dim – and then all of a sudden, she was not seeing the four boys in front of her – James, Sirius, Remus and Peter – sitting at the Gryffindor table, but somewhere else she couldn't tell where.

Her vision blurred yet a bit more – Lily couldn't tell why – so that now the only one that came into focus was Remus. And he wasn't laughing and talking anymore like he had been doing at the Gryffindor table. He was holding in his arms a little baby wrapped in blankets, so that all that Lily could see was a little head with a tuft of blue hair that was slowly becoming green. Remus himself was older, his brown hair was balding and had traces of grey; and though his face looked paler and more tired than she had ever seen, he glowed with happiness.

But before she could wonder what this vision meant – or if it was real at all – Lily blinked and with a final chill she was back again at the Gryffindor table, still looking somewhat bewildered in the direction of Remus. She noticed her friends kept talking and hadn't actually spotted her strange behaviour, so she simply continued eating the pumpkin pie in her plate like nothing had happened. But in her head, thoughts and voices echoed all together, ones over the others in confusion.

"_Andromeda's girl is a Metamorphmagus. Her hair went through all kinds of colours just on her first day of life, can you believe it?"_

_Remus was holding a baby Metamorphmagus._

"_You showed us pictures, mate__."_

_Remus was balder, and older…_

She couldn't really place all of them together, so when Mary turned to speak to her again after a bit, Lily decided to put these thoughts aside and tried to enjoy herself for the remaining time in the opening feast.


End file.
